Jungle influence (From The Northern Echo)

Jungle influence

12:13pm Monday 1st March 2010 in

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Back from challenging times in Australia, designers Colin and Justin are stepping up the task of sorting out the homes of Great Britain, they tell Steve Pratt.

IT was my own fault for telling TV design couple Colin and Justin that I was phoning from a car park. The inevitable – if you enjoy a spot of dodgy banter – comment of “Steve, you’re not dogging again”, came from Colin.

We were booked to talk about their Influence range for Matalan shops.

Happily Colin and Justin, who’ve been together nearly 25 years as a couple, didn’t speak at once. Colin was their spokesman, suggesting a nugget of interior design advice that I can’t envisage any other designer offering. If you go to bed with someone, he says, then you can buy a roll of wallpaper together.

Their successful long-term relationship makes them qualified, he says, to offer advice. As well as design, they also work as magazine agony uncles. “We’re very good at being a couple, being a unit,” he says.

That must have made their appearance on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here last year all the more difficult when Colin was voted out first, leaving his partner to go solo in the jungle competition.

Taking part helped their design work, believe it or not. “Being in the jungle, being away from everything, sleeping outside and having no comforts made us appreciate home even more,” he says.

Not that the designer in them disappeared completely. “Justin and I made all the beds one day– sleeping bags and throws – and dressed them with leaves. We also made a canopy over the fire, but had to take that down because the cameras couldn’t see us.”

They returned “slightly changed”

by the jungle experience. “It’s something we should all do – take ourselves out of our comfort zone,” he says.

“The incredible thing last year was there weren’t too many looney tunes people – apart from Kim, who’s completely crazy – and it’s not the same programme as Celebrity Big Brother with everyone acting up for the camera and trying too hard. Everyone goes into the jungle on an equal footing. Perfect socialism.

“We have come back stronger and more determined to sort out the homes of Great Britain.”

For their second Matalan collection, they’ve borne in mind these difficult financial times. “No one wants to spend a great deal of money and people are spending more time at home. They’re all geared up to changing their homes now than at any other time,” he says.

“We’ve been designing homes for 15 years and wanted to have something in the collection that you struggle to find, like fun accessories.

“With some celebrity endorsements you wonder if they’ve ever seen the products. What’s nice about Matalan is that we design with an inhouse team of designers who are all young, switched on people. They’re thinking of idea and designs, so it’s a really unique opportunity to draw on our experience gained by going to different shows around the world.

‘WE’Ve always said style is not about how much you spend. We have an opinion on people’s homes but everything is about the greater good.”

People ask “where do you get your style from?” but Colin says design isn’t elitist. He points to dress code – put on a navy pinstripe suit, shirt and tie and you know you’re dressed for business, but put on jeans and Tshirt and you’re casual.

With design, he’s all for getting rid of stuff you hate. Mix antique with new English if you want to. People make mistakes but can also see something and say, “that’s me or who I want to be”. Design should communicate something about the person responsible.

He and Justin don’t always agree but “are very into discussion”. He also feels there should be a sense of fun about what’s being created.

“Enjoy the rest of your time in the car park,” he says mischieviously as the conversation comes to an end.